To the Past
by ZoieLark
Summary: Rated just to be safe. How did Aika’s parents die? How does this relate to Aika's future? [Complete]
1. Prologue

I don't own Skies of Arcadia

=**Prologue**=

Ten years. Ten years since she had last heard her father's voice. Ten years since she heard her mother's laugh. Ten years of never really getting to know them or understand them. Ten years of coming home and never getting any hugs or kisses or talks like other children. Ten long years ago, her parents had met their end, and she was still alive. Somehow, it all just seemed unfair.

She looked up from the crook of her elbow in which her eyes had been resting the entire time. Shivering slightly, she pulled the blanket that was draped around her shoulder's just a bit closer. She hadn't felt like dragging her butt to the crow's nest and taking up watch in her best friend's ship, especially on this day, but what else could she do? Sit in her bed all day long…or rather all night long. Hell no! She wasn't like that. Then again, she wasn't the type to get all bleary eyed over anything like she was doing now.

She brushed madly against the nearly invisible tears. She didn't want to reminisce about the past, but it somehow had a way of coming back to her, claiming her in it's vise-like grip (A/N: Sorry, couldn't help myself).

It was long ago, but she could just remember snippets of it. She could remember her mother's hands as they set her down and pushed her away. She could remember hearing her father's pain filled cries. She remembered the cold wind, the feel of the rough wool being thrown around her body…_wait, did that happen? _She stopped in mid thought. Weren't her parents killed some other way? Her best friend's father, Captain Dyne had always told her otherwise, so what were these memories???

Quickly, she shook herself out of her reverie as she heard a soft scuffling sound just behind her. Her hand snaked it's way out of her blanket and grabbed onto her boomerang. In one fluid movement, she had twisted around and shoved the bladed end of her boomerang just underneath the intruder's neck.

"Lawrence?" Her voice sounded loud on the nearly empty ship. Her eyes raked over her old crewmate, taking in the slightly long brown hair that fell over his eyes, the slight scar, the forever downturn of his lips and his clothes. "Love the pantaloons," she murmured as she dropped her boomerang to her side.

"It's for a job, Aika."

"…" She pointed to the overly large orange tunic and neon green pantaloons. "And who in their right mind would make their employees wear such a thing?"

"Mail deliverers." Lawrence met her disbelieving eyes for a moment then said, "They had the right amount of money so I couldn't turn down their offer." He dug into one of the pockets and pulled out a large package that looked to be very old. Being the man of few words and already reaching the limit of words he says through one day, Lawrence tossed the package at Aika and climbed out of the crow's nest. He then entered an unidentified flying object and disappears from Aika's view point.

Aika's eyes soon drop to the package in her hands and, like a starving wolf tearing into it's first meal in three weeks, she quickly tore the paper off.

Bound within the paper was a book or a diary. She couldn't tell. She thumbed through the last few pages and read:

__

It wasn't that long when I decided that I should leave her behind. My Aika, my little love. I knew that this time I would never come back…miss the chance to see her grow old. I'd never see her fall in love or see her first real raid…but to save her I had to leave…we had to leave…

"Mom?"

Aika shut the book almost immediately. Should she be reading this? This was finally a way to know what went on in the past…to get to know her parents…to understand. This was the key to her past. Should she risk unlocking it?

Of course. She was Aika and she loved taking risks.

A/N: I'm not sure how the game portrays the death of Aika's parents. I don't remember if it said it specifically or what. I also don't know if the game said anything about names, including that of Vyse's mother. It's been awhile since I played, so if there are any helpful hints please feel free to tell me.


	2. To the Past

I don't own Skies of Arcadia.

__

(A/N: There really are no name's for the parents…oh well, how about this: Aika's mom: Lake, Aika's Dad: Raven, Vyse's Mom: Raine, Vyse's Dad: Dyne)

****

===

It was early morning. The sun had just risen over the clouds in the distance, casting a fiery orange glow along the few houses that stood on the floating island that was secretly known as Pirate Isle. Birds sailed through the air, twittering their soft songs and greeting the people that they met. A small furry dog like creature bounded out of a house and barked at a tree. It was peaceful, and tranquil, just like every morning.

"Get back here you load of Looper dung!"

Curious people, who had just awoken, peeked through the glass planes of their house. What welcomed their eyes made them snigger. It _was _just like every morning. A young woman with long fiery red hair that flowed like a banner behind her head, was chasing a man, who was much taller than her with short blond hair that was parted in the middle. Lake and Raven were always at each others throats and it looked like they were really at it today.

Raven, turned his rusty red eyes onto the girl who was chasing him. He loved messing with her, especially when she least expected it. True, cutting a hole into her room to push in a small fire cracker to awake her, was a bit harsh, but it was well worth her excited screams.

That is, until he felt something cold slice through the air.

She barreled toward him, her blanket tied around her slender shoulders and her bladed boomerang in her hands. She swung it around maliciously ready to just cut a piece of his shoulder or even better, his beloved hair that he combed almost every second that he could get. Catching his eyes with her honey colored ones, he blew her a kiss that made her temper flare even more.

"You're really trying to kill me?!" Raven yelled.

"Not trying, moron. I WILL kill you!"

She was just about to take another swing when the door to the center home opened. A tall, lanky man stepped out of his home. His hair, always slicked back except for the front which hung suspended in air and dancing against the cold wind, was disheveled at the moment and tinted a golden red/brown color. He yawned and scratched his head, wondering what the racket was about. He was handsome, even though he was still in his pajamas; people could still see the slight muscular build underneath the pajamas with boat print all over it.

Raven, seeing his quick (and maybe only) escape, ran toward the house. "Dyne!" Raven shouted, waving his arms frantically.

"Oh no you don't!" Lake yelled and threw her weapon.

Dyne turned his attention to the bleary streak of a body making it's way toward him. He grinned, stepped back into the house and held the door open, waiting for his best friend to make his way over the threshold.

Raven jumped through, tumbling along the ground, and Dyne shut the door instantly. Within seconds, a boomerang stabbed through the door, the tip a mere inch away from Dyne's handsome face.

Raven gave Dyne a quick smirk as he patted Dyne on the shoulder. He was breathing hard with the morning's work out and looked just a tad bit over cheerful. "What a way to wake up, no?"

===

Lake was still seething by the time lunch was over. Every morning, Raven would find some way to bug her. This morning, it was some damned fire cracker…the one before was a large bug…the time before that…she shuttered at the memory.

Her hand wound into a fist and she slammed it against the table instantly. "ARMADA HUMPER!" Her eyes grew wide and she immediately covered her mouth with her hands. She looked at her parents who stared open mouthed at their daughter.

"Don't say that type of language in front of your mother, Lake," Lake's father said. He picked up his drink and grinned behind the glass, giving his daughter a wink. 

Lake grinned in spite of her anger. _He_ was the one who taught her that curse anyway. After a moment of silence, Lake said, "I think I'm going to visit Rain."

"Fine, just don't go to that stupid Shrine Island today. Your father and I won't be here. We'll be going on a raid with Dyne's and Raven's parents." She started to remove her apron and moved to the closet. "Honestly," she muttered under her breath. "I don't see what you kids like about that crusty old shrine island."

Lake stood up and put her dishes into the sink. Rinsing them out, she lost herself in thought. For a good 20 years, she had lived on Pirate Isle with Dyne, Rain, and Raven, the three of them her very close buddies…however, it wasn't till recently that she started feeling something for Dyne. Every time she glanced up at him or sparred with him and accidentally touched his hand, she could feel her cheeks grow hot. How she loved going on adventures, just the four of them and they have recently been spending time on Shrine Island. The reason? First off, it was a good place to train, secondly, it was parent free. 

There was no doubt where she was heading that day.

And this time, she'd pay Raven back real good…

===

__

A/N: I know it doesn't sound like much now, but it's just setting stuff up for what is about to occur. 

By the by, thanks to KayteeLern, Lightbulby29, Lady Lanet, and Desert Lynx for reviewing my story. I really appreciate it and hope you like this chapter as well.


	3. To The Past

I don't own Skies of Arcadia.

A/N: Sorry it took me forever to update...Stuff got in the way…Just a reminder: Lake=Aika's mom, Raven=Aika's Dad, Rain=Vyse's mom, and Dyne=Vyse's Dad.

===

Lake waved goodbye and good riddance to her parents as they sailed off to only the moon's knew where. Now that they were gone, it was time to put her plans to work and her victim, luckily, was walking by with a bucket to get some water from the well.

"Hey," Lake said as she sat at the edge of the well. She swung her legs in a little arc hoping to look a bit seductive.

Raven just stared at her as if she lost all of her brain cells. "What's wrong with you?"

Lake immediately lost sight of her plans and a frown appeared on her face. "I was just trying to be nice, you dolt. If you can't even appreciate that--"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," Raven said in his usually chipper voice as he held up his hands in a defeated manner. "I appreciate it. But, when you and nice happen to coincide, I start to worry about my health." He turned from her and tied a rope onto the pales handle and lowered it slightly so that he could fill the pale. 

As he worked on his task, a feeling of guilt started to wash over him. He had been a jerk to her for the past few days…well, more like years…of her life. After a moment of silent reflection, Raven said, "Look, Lake, I'm sorry about this morn--" When Raven looked up, he found her to have disappeared. "I guess she didn't want an apology," he murmured. "It probably meant she liked being tormented."

Lake watched from a safe distance. She would have to try something else if she wanted him to get to him to come with her to Shrine Island. Frowning, she turned and ran stiffly into Rain's chest.

"Why do you have that 'I'm going to get him' look in your eyes?" Rain asked as she finished tying her handkerchief over her long brown hair. She was wearing her usual blue skirt, purple shirt, and white apron.

"Because I am, Rain. You heard what he did to me this morning!"

"Of course I did. Everyone did." Rain reached into a basket and started hanging laundry. Since her mother had died, Rain usually took care of her household and of the towns children while everyone was off pirating away. Even though she was really young, most people would have thought that the stress would get to her, but for as long as Lake knew Rain, Rain always had a smile on her face and an undying strength that Lake marveled at. She also had the ability to read Lake like a book. "Your plan's going to fail," she said after a moment.

Lake picked up a towel and helped Rain hang it on the line. She watched it flutter against the wind, pondering Rain's words. Finally a grin took over Lake's face as she glanced at Rain. "No, it won't."

"What do you mea--" Rain halted when she spotted the wolfish look in Lake's eyes. "No, I'm not going to be a part of this. Remember last time? I ended up seeing _parts_ of Dyne that I never wanted to!"

Lake laughed at the memory. It was great times, stealing his clothes after convincing him that they were going skinny dipping. Unfortunately, as Dyne was chasing her, she had panicked, thrown the clothes into Rain's arms and hid. Rain stood there as Dyne ran up to her, his cheeks (you choose which ones) were a scarlet color as were Rain's.

"Don't worry, it's nothing like that! I just wanted you to convince him to go to Shrine Island. You could ditch his carcass there when you drop him off." Before Rain could reply, Lake whimpered slightly. "Please?"

"Damn it, Lake," Rain threw some more clothes on the line and hiked up her skirt. "Fine, but you owe me your soul."

"Consider it done."

===

"It's a trap," Dyne stated while Raven was combing his hair for the thirtieth time. He watched the ministrations for no more than three seconds until he felt ill. It was amazing how much product could be smothered into the blonde tresses of Raven's hair. "You know it's a trap, don't you?"

"What do you mean? Rain would never do something like lying to me." He brought the brush up to his temple and tried to make his hair look windblown. "She's so sweet and innocent!" He stared at Dyne in the mirror and saw the horror in the other man's eyes. "What?"

"No she isn't! She was the one that spiked your liqua with the bug eggs, last year after you made a pass at her!"

"I don't remember it like that. I remember her loving hands filling my juice with her love bugs," Raven replied as he twirled a finger through one strand of his hair. He finally set down his comb and gave himself a thumbs up in the mirror. "Besides, you just don't want me to go to Shrine Island with her because you want to go alone with her yourself."

Dyne was at a loss for words. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Whatever, man. Just know, you're getting what you deserve."

Raven patted Dyne on the shoulder as he strode past him. "I hope so, man."

Dyne shook his head and laughed slightly. Sometimes Raven was blind when it came to the realms of love…

===

Shrine Island was pretty much self explanatory. It was an island with a shrine on it. How old the shrine was, no one really knew. It had been there since before Rain could remember, and had a lot of secrets about it. 

Lake knew the island like the back of her hand. She would usually go there to hide out or just fight random monsters so she could level up. However, Lake never traveled to the bottom of the shrine for her reasons alone. She always claimed that she never felt right going past a certain level and many had called her chicken. She never cared.

Rain docked her ship and made like she was going to fix up some loose ends. Raven grinned as he stepped off the boat and onto the land. He felt exhilarated at finally being alone with the hot little Rain. However, as his foot hit land, he felt a _swoosh_ of air from behind. When he turned around, his "hot little Rain" was gone and flying back to Pirate Island.

"Damn you, Dyne, you were right," Raven muttered to himself as he stuck his hands into his pockets and began walking to the shrine. "Might as well get this over with then. I mean, what's Lake going to do to get me?"

===

Lake sat in a cramped space for nearly an hour. She had fallen asleep several times, each time waking with a sore neck and a slight curse. "Where's the dolt," she muttered for the umpteenth time to no one. She peeked through a hole in the wall and stared outside. She saw footprints on the ground, larger than her own, indicating that he had come. She followed them with her eyes and found that it disappeared a long distance away from the entrance of the shrine.

__

Worried? her inner voice asked.

__

No, she answered back.

__

Liar.

Lake was on her feet and running through the halls of the Shrine quickly. She had to see where the heck Raven was before her conscience started to eat away at her. She was at the entrance and running out the door when she stumbled on something.

"What the…"

===


	4. To tHe Past

I don't own Skies of Arcadia

===

Lake bent down and pried open the loose tile she had tripped on. Dust and smoke wafted up, covering her in dust and causing her to sneeze. She covered her face with one hand and tried to peer into the darkness, but she couldn't see anything.

"RAVEN?" she called out, worry now completely filling her entire being. She had a sinking feeling that he had stumbled in there and she didn't want to go in. There was only one place that it could lead to and she never went into that area.

"RAVEN?" she tried again after getting no response. She turned every which way. There was absolutely nothing except for a few fallen trees and the shrine. He couldn't have gotten in the shrine without her knowing so there was only one way he could have gone.

She glanced in the pit, a distasteful look marring her face. She had no choice but to go in and she wasn't happy about it.

She sat on the edge of the hole and let her feet sink into the darkness. She felt down with her feet for anything to place her weight on but there was nothing. Shrugging her shoulders, she slipped all the way in and let the darkness claim her.

She landed on a soft cursing object. It could only be one person. "Great, it's you," she proclaimed as she pushed herself up and dusted herself off.

"Nice to meet you too," came the drawl of Raven. She could barely see him in the nearly dim light and was thankful for it. It meant that he couldn't see her clearly nor the blush that stained her cheeks. "Where are we?"

Lake frowned. "The bottom of the shrine, I think." She took a few steps away from him and stumbled on a pebble. His hand darted out, grabbed her shoulder, and steadied her. Lake quickly pulled out of his grasp and whispered a hurried, "I'm fine."

"We need to get out of here," Raven said impatiently. He was starting to tap his foot and it was getting on Lake's nerves.

"WILL YOU QUIT THAT?"

"QUIT WHAT?"

"THAT INANE TAPPING? DO YOU HAVE PROBLEMS?"

"I HAVE PROBLEMS? WE WOULDN'T BE HERE IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU?"

"ME? YOU STARTED IT YOU JERK!"

"I STARTED IT?"

"ARE YOU TOO DUMB TO REALIZE IT?"

"You little--" Before Raven could finish his sentence, the ground started rumbling. Instinctively, he grabbed a hold of Lake and wrapped his arms around her to protect her from the falling debris.

"What's going on?" cried Lake as she poked her head out from between his arms. She looked up, her eyes clashing with Raven's. He was so close that she could see the soft flecks of brown within the sea of red despite the darkness. He seemed to be thinking on the same lines; he didn't break eye contact. There seemed to be something--some emotion--swirling in his depths, something she couldn't quite decipher.

"How the hell should I know, dolt?"

Whatever magic that Lake had felt had quickly dissolved. She pushed him away, trying to recover her composure. "We should find a way out."

Raven was still staring at her. "Good idea," he said after a moment.

They searched around the darkness, finding almost nothing in the dim light. Lake's eyes felt strained and tired that they were stinging every millisecond. Finally, she leaned against the wall just to rest.

Rocks burst from the wall, just next to her head. 

The wall melted away revealing the lower portion of the shrine. A huge soldier that looked to be made of rock, was stumbling toward them, it's arms swinging back and forth. Suddenly, it brought one of it's arms up and a wave of light soared from it, slamming into Raven's stomach. He fell back, grabbing his abdomen in pain, his face twisted in anger. 

"MOONS, GIVE ME STRENGTH!" Lake cried as she called on her magic. Light swirled beneath her feet as power surged inside her body. Fire appeared, swirling above her head the descending upon the monster. The monster appeared to stumble backward and hesitate.

By that time, Raven had recovered slightly and was feeling inside his boots and other areas of his body for his daggers. He threw them at the monster, damaging it more.

"What is that thing?" he cried as he dodged one of the soldier's flailing limbs. 

"I don't know!" Lake was silently cursing herself for leaving her weapon behind. Who knew that a monster of that magnitude lived in the shrine. "I think it's an old guardian. It must think we're enemies!"

"But Dyne and I've been here many times. We've never seen this monstrosity!"

By that time, Raven noticed that Lake's face was screwed up in pain and she was grabbing her shoulder. "Moons, give me strength." A soft light spilled over Lake and she felt a hundred times better. She smirked her thanks at her semi-friend and tried to find the soldier's weak point. 

Raven, returned it for a second as he sprinted behind the guardian. He threw one of his daggers distracting it.

Slowly, it heaved it's large body around, trying to find Raven's quick movements. In the meantime, Lake cast another spell, this time ice.

Ice appeared over the guardian's body, halting it's movements completely. Raven closed his eyes and prepared himself as he performed a special move that he had nearly perfected. "ALPHA STORM!"

When the battle was completed, the guardian burst into flames and broke apart. It landed in a large heap across the ground and stopped moving. 

Lake walked up to it first, kneeling beside it. "Why do you think it started working now?" she asked, her fingers trailing over the head of the guardian. It began to shake once again and Lake pulled away. 

Raven saw it and frowned. "Let's get out of here first, before we discuss anything."

He turned to leave, heading toward the staircase. His foot was hovering over the first stair when he heard a slight gasp from his companion. He turned around, readying for another battle, but froze when he saw Lake's pale face. "What is it? What's wrong?" he asked in one breath.

Lake pointed to a small portion of the ground that the guardian sat over. Raven got down on his knees and shoved the boulder aside to get a better view. On the ground there were a few words inscribed in the old tongue, something that only a few people could read. He wasn't one of them.

"Ooo!" he said, sounding sarcastic. "Squiggles!"

Lake punched him in the shoulder and said, "It's a prophecy, dolt. It says: Those who--" she squinted slightly and cocked her head. "It says quarrel, but I think it means fight…the…?"

She ran her finger down a few more passages and stopped dead in her tracks.

"What else does it say?" Raven asked.

Lake gulped and turned to stare at Raven. "It says that the 'guardian' that we've fought wasn't a guardian. It's called the 'Matchmaker' and if two of the opposite sex fight him and win, they will face utter happiness followed by utter grief…" Lake turned her eyes away and whispered the next few words. "After, they marry."

===

Aika nearly dropped the journal. She couldn't believe what she just read. It took all her willpower to keep from screaming out loud. Didn't she fight that huge boulder with Vyse on the day they got that moonstone?

"Hey Aika!" 

Aika glanced up, slipping the book beneath the blankets that she wore for warmth. "V--Vyse! What are you doing here?" It was too much of a coincidence. Why in the world had he appeared out of nowhere when she was just thinking about him.

Vyse gave her a 'gee, Aika, you've been out here too long' look and said, "It's my turn to keep watch…" He trailed off into silence and his eyes narrowed. "Hey, what are you hiding?"

"Hiding?" Aika could've bitten her tongue off. Vyse knew her well enough to know that if she started repeating words, she was guilty of doing something.

Vyse gave her a sly grin as he took a few steps closer to her. She quickly stood up and took a few steps back. "Don't you come closer," she threatened, her eyes blazing as she tried to think of a way out of this situation.

"And what will you do?" Vyse asked. He pounced, his arms easily sliding into the blanket and reaching around her waist for the object that she was hiding.

The blanket slipped off Aika's shoulders, exposing her to the cold. Aika shivered in Vyse's arms.

This innocent little act caused Vyse to back away from her quickly. Pieces of crumbled paper were in his hands, apparently from the diary, and his face--Aika would never forget this--was as red as her hair.

"It's my watch. You better get inside quickly…" he mumbled as he picked up the blanket and threw it at his best friend. "You feel cold."


	5. To thE Past

I don't own Skies of Arcadia

===

Aika stumbled face first into her bed with the journal held snugly to her chest. Her head was still reeling by the information she had just read. "MMmmph." she mumbled into the sheets.

Turning her head slightly, she could see the moonlight shimmering through a crack in the wall and cast it's glowing shadow across the ground. Talking just to hear something other than the thoughts in her head, she whispered, "Utter grief...after they marry." The thought struck her as hard to follow.

But, her parents did die so long ago…

She picked up the journal again and cracked it open. A few of the pages she had already read were torn apart, thanks to Vyse, but that didn't matter. She wanted to find out more, to find out if there was any way that she could prevent such misery from every coming true.

Turning the page, she found another entry:

"_We were too shocked about that odd prophecy that we didn't talk all the way back home. I sneered at him a few times and he glared at me…the tension was too thick and I couldn't stand it…_

"_When we got back to the island, I just took off and went to the only people who I thought would understand the pain I was going through_."

===

Dyne couldn't stop laughing at his friend when she told him what had happened. "Why the hell are you laughing?" Lake snarled as Dyne grabbed his stomach. His face was already turning a shade of purple from lack of air.

On the other side of Dyne, Rain had started to chuckle as well. "It's just that the thought of you and Raven--" Rain broke off as another wave of laughter erupted from Dyne. He fell off his chair and lay on the ground, trying to breathe. 

"It's just…imagine what kind of spawn you and him will have!" Dyne roared once again.

("SPAWN!" Aika cried out.)

Rain began to snort at the thought as well. "A little red head prankster with a fiery temper and an equal charm who doesn't know when to shut up! That'll be scary!" It wasn't long before she joined Dyne on the ground, laughing hysterically at the thought.

Lake stared at the both of them before her lips started to twitch upward in mirth. Thank the moons for friends who could make a person forget their troubles.

A week later, Lake woke up and expected to hear the sizzling of food like she did every morning. Usually, it would only take her parents a total of five days to do what they had to do, then come home. Next time, they had promised that she could come with them and learn the trade of being a pirate.

She opened her door and looked around. Nothing. They weren't home yet.

Lake cocked her head in curiosity. Where were they?

She dressed and decided to bum some food off of Rain. She always had plenty of food at her house since she was one of the best cooks around. 

However, the second that she opened the door, she felt the atmosphere of Pirate Isle slice through her. She shivered violently, wondering what was going on. Several people were heading toward the headquarters located beneath the ground. One of them, Lake recognized.

"Briggs!" Briggs stopped and turned around, watching Lake make her way toward him. "What happened?"

Briggs hesitated a moment as he stared at Lake. "Blue Rogues have been captured by Black Pirates."

Lake shivered again as a thought jumped around her brain. She quickly suppressed it as she forced herself to ask, "Do you know who?"

Briggs shook his head. "There's a briefing going on, right now." He bid her farewell and quickly walked a path to headquarters.

Lake's mind quickly cleared. Briefings were only called by the captain, which meant that Dyne's parents had returned, meaning that they were okay. Dyne's father always knew what to do, so everything would be fine.

She followed Briggs down the dirt road that led to a dead end. Once he tapped on the wall, it began to tremble revealing a doorway that led to a platform inside a cave. She stepped onto it, followed by Briggs who turned onto a bridge that led to a small log cabin not too far away.

She was just crossing the bridge when she saw Raven leaning against the doorway of headquarters. She hadn't seen him since the Shrine Island incident. She let out a breath at seeing the overall change in him. His silver blonde hair, for the first time, was in disarray. He wore little or no expression on his face and under his eyes were baggy, as if he hadn't slept at all.

Standing back, he let Briggs past him, but stopped Lake from entering.

She jerked her head toward him and stared at his red, rusty eyes. Her breath caught in her throat at the loneliness and tiredness that she saw in there. Was it his parents? And if so, why isn't he letting her go inside to the meeting? "Let me through."

"No."

His voice was hard and firm, something she had never heard from him before. She turned fully toward him and crossed her arms, debating whether or not to treat him normally or be sympathetic. "Let me through," she repeated.

He sighed, placing a hand on her arm. He squeezed it softly and said, "Trust me, Lake, you don't want to go in there."

She pulled her arm away from his grasp, not wanting to admit she enjoyed feeling his warmth seeping into her arm. "Last time I _trusted_ you, I ended up bald."

"That was when we were four years old!"

"..." She shoved him aside and entered the room. Amazingly, there weren't many people in there. It was just a bunch of teens and young adults. Where were the parents?

Normally, at the head of the table would be the captain. However, the captain wasn't present. Only Dyne. He face was hard as stone and his hands were tightly clasped just underneath his chin. He looked up as Lake entered and for that brief moment of their eyes meeting, Lake knew.

Raven, Dyne, and her parents were all captured.

Raven shut the door and leaned against it. He crossed his arms as his eyes scanned the room. All of the occupants were of their young twenties or teens. Anyone older had already gone in search of the other their crew or were too sick to make it to the meeting. Finally, he rested his eyes on Lake who stood starkly still since she entered the room.

Dyne rubbed his temples almost instantly as the door shut and he slowly got up. "I--I'm sure by now that all of um, you have h-heard that a few, er, of our crew, including our c-captain, was captured near Nasrad. Reports s-say that after a chance meeting with the, um, Armada, they were badly damaged and the Black P-Pirates took advantage of their distress…" Dyne fell into silence, too shaken to continue.

Lake began to stir. The thought of his family out there was really effecting Dyne and everyone could visibly see that. It wasn't a good sign for a captain-to-be and it looked like everyone was thinking the same thing. She didn't know what to do. She, herself, felt like falling into several pieces and she needed some fresh air, or to escape, she didn't know which. But, when she turned around to leave, she caught Raven's eyes.

He looked at her meaningfully causing her to stop in her tracks and then he turned his eyes back to Dyne. "So, what are we going to do about it, Dyne?" he said with a forced grin. "Sit on our arses all day and blubber on and on while the old people get all the fun?"

Dyne glanced at his long time friend for a moment. Dyne's face was blank for a long time and then suddenly, a smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "Hell no. We try to get them back, of course," Dyne said matter-of-factly. Lost was Dyne's apprehension, tiredness and stutter. Left was the Dyne that Raven and Lake knew well and Lake mentally thanked Raven defusing the tension, even if he sounded like Grounder manure as he said it.

Raven scratched his chin as if in thought. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! I need to roast me a few Evil Pirate bums--"

Dyne held up his hands to silence him. "We can't go yet. Remember, acting quickly and rushing are two completely different things. We need a plan."

Everyone seemed to grow just a little easier as they listened to this version of Dyne.

"We only need a few stealthy and strong people to take with us into the fight. Everyone else will remain on ship following Briggs' orders. We also need a quick ship to catch up with them. Raven," he said turning to his friend, " you have an eye for ships. Go and find any ship worth using. Briggs, Lake, and Ben, get all the women and children down here and anyone who isn't coming with us will be guarding over them. When we're set, we head over to Sailor's Island. Remember, we need information first."

Dyne looked at every one of their faces to make sure they understood, then said, "Dismissed."

"Aye-aye, captain."

Rain was checking the ship for any mechanical error with Dyne while Raven and Lake were checking and cleaning weapons.

"Thank you."

Raven looked up suddenly, his face void of all expression as he stared at Lake. "I'm sorry, I thought I just heard you thank me."

"I did."

Raven finished cleaning the gun in his hands before he said, "I can't believe hell already froze over."

Lake automatically kicked him in the shin and then laughed at his hurt expression. She liked when she gave him pain.

They fell into a nice companionable silence as they continued cleaning. Finally, Raven decided to break it and add his own turmoil into the mix. "We never discussed anything that happened on Shrine Island."

Lake's hand froze over the sword that she carried and she dragged her eyes up to meet his. However, his own were averted, staring at something in the distance, on the other side of the ship. "I don't think we should bring that u--"

"SHHHH!" Raven half stood up and blocked the sun's rays from his face with a hand. He squinted in the direction trying to claim a better look and Lake could only follow his gaze.

Off on the helm of the ship, Rain and Dyne were arguing frantically. Lake nor Raven had ever witnessed such a phenomena, but low and behold, there it was. "Let's get closer and hear what they're arguing about," Lake whispered as she grabbed Raven's collar and heaved him closer.

The soft wind blew, carrying pieces of conversation to hungry ears. 

"I…you…don't you care how I feel about this…never see you again…"

Dyne seemed to pause as he inhaled Rain's words. For a moment neither of them moved, each frozen to their spot. Suddenly, Rain turned on her heel ready to flee. In that moment, Dyne's arm shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"…can't…run away, Rain…love you…"

Raven and Lake seemed to hold their breaths as Rain and Dyne leaned closer to one another and kissed.

"Holy crap!" cried Raven as he fell back on his bottom as soon as they had snuck back. "I didn't know about that!"

Lake, felt her nostrils flare out in brief anger and then whirled her head around to stare at them only to turn back to look down once again. She continued cleaning the remaining weapons, although more mechanical than before.

"And it appears that you didn't either," Raven muttered under his breath. 

Lake glared at him for a moment before she returned to her task.

"Oh, come on, Lake. You know you've got something to say. I mean, you like the guy, don't you?" Raven finished his pile and sat back, waiting for her response. She looked as if she were trying to rub away a piece of dirt that didn't exist instead of talking, so he continued. "You're not even going to call me a Ghastling baby eater?"

Lake sighed and dropped the weapon on the ground. She forced herself to face Raven. "I just want to go save my parents." With that said, she stood up and left him by himself.

Raven watched her with half lidded eyes, trying to figure something out. She didn't look as bad as he thought she'd feel. She was either hiding it well, or she wasn't in love with Dyne.

Raven smirked and began to work on the weapons she had left behind.

__

Thanks to all those that reviewed. They are what keep me writing stories ( Yes, I'm a review whore). 


	6. To the PAst

Disclaimer: I don't own Skies of Arcadia.

Aika's eyes fluttered open. "Did I fall asleep?" she asked aloud. She didn't even know she had fallen asleep, or that she was that tired. Sitting up, she wiped the drool that escaped her mouth and stared down at the journal.

Where did she leave off? Dyne was running into a group of people with his guns drawn. Aika shook her head. She couldn't believe that her old Cap'n used to be so reckless. Then again, there were times that Vyse tended to act that way…

Aika blinked. She shook her head and focused on what was at hand. She had to keep reading, to find a way to avoid any danger that her and Vyse would get into since they fought that matchmaker thingy…maybe she could learn from her parent's mistake…

She turned the page of the journal and began reading once more.

===

Dyne fired rapidly at the near drunken men who were singing some shanty. Instantly, he was met with an onslaught of daggers and gun fire. He kicked down a table and hid behind it, breathing rapidly. He had seen three men at the corner of the room, several sitting at a bar, and four near the back of the room playing cards. He had to work quickly to stop them all.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and began firing once again.

A bullet of light slid past his cheek narrowly missing his eye. It stung like hell, but he couldn't focus on that. Three men emerged from behind him, each carrying a sword. One of them stepped forward, ready to fight, the other's swayed behind him. Dyne grinned. Them being drunk gave him a slight advantage…but there were still way more of them than there was of him.

The man, who had dark black hair, a large nose, and a big black hat, flew forward as his sword slashed down. Dyne dropped to his back and kicked, landing his feet in the man's gut. As the man stumbled backward, Dyne aimed and fired three times hitting the man, and the two people who stood behind him. They were instantly unconscious.

"Nice," cried someone from behind. "But not as nice as this." Dyne felt something blunt smash against his back. He tucked into a ball, like his parents had once told him, and rolled to a safe distance. When he once again stood, the number of pirates had doubled, and they were all after him. 

Lake could feel the tears burning just behind her eyes as the arms around her tightened. "Mom, Dad," she whispered. How had they escaped? She quickly scolded herself at that thought. They were Blue Rogues, of course. She returned their hugs warmly, but felt something wet and warm at the small of her mother's back. She pulled away quickly and looked at her hand. Blood. "We have to get you guys out of here," she said, looking at her mother worriedly.

Lake's mother gave her a weak grin. "I'm the one who should be fussing over you. How'd you find us?"

"Well," Lake began as she did a sloppy healing spell over her mother who wouldn't stop bleeding, "Raven got info--" Raven! Where was he and where was Dyne. She whirled around, seeing Raven and his parents as well as Dyne's parents make their way toward them. 

__

There's one moron, where's the other?

Lake ran up to Raven and asked him slowly, "Is Dyne with you?"

Raven looked at her puzzled. The deal was that they would ruin the ship and Dyne would go and find the parents. They assumed that he'd be with the one of the parents, since the parents were safe, but there was no sign of him. Lake and Raven's minds started stumbling along a path that they both knew had to have happened. Dyne didn't see the parents escape…that would mean he thought that had been killed…that would mean he would be doing something stupid right now. Lake's brow furrowed and he said, "That bastard."

Lake turned to the elders and said, "We forgot something down there." She caught Raven's eyes. They would rather die than admit that one of them would do something so stupid.

"Do you need any help?" Dyne's father asked, as he arched an eyebrow.

Raven gave him a lopsided grin. "Who do you think we are? The Armada?" He grabbed a hold of Lake's wrist and started pulling her back down the ship. "We'll be back soon. No worries."

As soon as Raven and Lake were out of hearing distance, Raven turned to Lake and asked, "Do you know where he is?"

"No. I thought you did."

"Crap. Where…" Raven grew silent as his brain started to work over time. 

Dyne felt near faint. His arms were tired, his legs were tired, his brain felt a bit fuzzy, and his eyes were un-focusing. He had realized around the twelve time he had been caught in someone's blade, that this was the stupidest thing he had ever done. _I could run away_, he thought, but made a face. There was no chance of him escaping with many men--even drunk--with all their weapons aimed at him to escape without getting more injuries. He tried to heal himself, but found that he had not enough strength for magic.

He knew that getting hit one more time would end him. He'd be Black Pirate food for sure…but if he didn't do anything, then he'd just be staying in one spot the entire time only to pass out from exhaustion. Either of his choices didn't look too good.

He checked his gun and exchanged moonstones so that it gave off a shiny yellow hue. "Might as well," he murmured. 

Jumping up, he shot at two men. The light pierced their armor and drilled down into their skin. Dyne twisted as someone jumped up from behind a table. He shot, but missed as the man aimed at him.

"MOON'S GIVE ME STRENGTH!"

The ground began to rumble and the lights within the room began to short circuit casting sparks of light all around the Black Pirates. Lightening shot forth from a pair of hands and penetrated into a row of drunken men. 

The lights returned to normal as Dyne felt a hand clap him on the shoulder. He turned around and peered into Lake and Raven's smiling face. "Now I see why you're here. You just wanted a little action," whispered Raven.

Dyne shook his head at his friend then turned to glare at the remaining. He raised his gun and grinned. "You guys are late…"

When Dyne, Lake, and Raven returned to their parents, they looked a little worse for wear. Dyne was limping forth, but walking without any help from anyone else. He had a cut across his face and a ton of bruises along his arm. Lake sported a new black eye as well as a few cuts. She grinned at her parents astonished looks and showed them the cut on her lip. Behind her, Raven walked with his hands in his pockets and whistling. From his forehead, blood was dripping. He also carried a few bruises, and his clothes, which were near mutilation, revealed a few deep cuts in his leg.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Dyne's father asked, holding back a chuckle.

Lake glanced at Dyne and shook her head slowly. "Not really. I got some piece of crap instead."

"Anyway," Dyne interrupted. "We have to get out of here quick. There are no enforcements and the ship we have isn't as strong as the real Albatross."

Dyne looked up at his father and saw pride in his eyes. It sort of threw him off. "Orders, Captain?" he asked hesitantly.

Dyne's father shook his head. "I'm not the captain in this mission. What do you think we should do?"

Dyne looked taken aback as everyone stared at him. Lake smiled, all the parents grinned, and Raven sighed. "But, I'm--not--" Dyne tried to say.

"I'll follow your sexy rear end anywhere, Captain," cried Raven as he saluted him. 

That sure knocked the self consciousness out of Dyne. He turned on Raven immediately. "We need to get to the other ship. Raven, start to get over there. Lake, signal them." He turned to the elders and said, "the rest of you come with me. Dad, you have the best aim and since I'm not at the best of health, I need you to shoot this," he unhooked a crossbow he had stolen--er--borrowed from a passed out Black Pirate and passed it to his father, "onto the ship that will be heading toward us. The ship will be moving, so be careful, and the visibility will be rough. Everyone else, get ready to get aboard because once we're on there, we're flying out."

"How much weaponry does the other ship have?" wondered Raven's mother.

"A cannon and two torpedoes. That was the best we could do," he added when he caught the disapproving look in his mother's eyes. "No one would give _us_ a ship with anything stronger." That statement was met with a lot of nods. "So, we thought it best to fly away quickly instead of staying to fight. The weapons will be used to hold them off if anything happens."

Lake shot something into the air. Light sprinkled all about them and a loud _boom_ echoed through the air.

They felt the ship start to move as Raven piloted toward a misty area. Just as they were about to enter the area, a ship appeared and Dyne's father tied a rope to the arrow then fired. Lake's parents, then Raven's, and finally Dyne's parents slid down the rope. Dyne waited until Raven and Lake were once again by his side. By then, many Black Pirates were spilling across the decks and making their way toward them. 

"Go," Raven said as he pushed Dyne toward the rope.

"I'm the captain. I should be last."

"You're also the most injured out of the all of us. You should go first." Dyne glanced at the rope, grabbing the belt buckle that he had tied up there. "Besides, you're needed to rule the crew with an iron fist."

Dyne looked about ready to argue when Lake shoved him and he swung all the way down.

"Now you."

Lake glared at him. "Why do I have to go first?

"Stop arguing with me. It's not the time!"

Lake, ready to speak, opened her mouth. Raven narrowed his eyes, sighed, then darted forward, his lips covering hers.

Lake's eyes widened, feeling his warmth melt over her. Before she knew it, she felt herself slowly step closer to him, her hands itching to wind around his body--

Then he pushed her back. "Now go."

He defended his only life line to the other ship as best as he could, while he waited for Lake to make it down all the way. He couldn't think clearly as he blocked left, blocked right…he didn't have enough time to call one of his special moves or cast magic.

There's an opening. He threw a dagger, hitting his target in the gut. He twisted his hand, and from his sleeve, another dagger flew forward. Block left, dodge…he saw a shining blade fall in front of him. He grabbed the wrist and pulled forward, jabbing a dagger into him. Making sure that the man could be used as a shield, now, he covered himself and turned. 

Lake had safely made it and now it was his turn. Picking up the rope, he wrapped a piece around his wrist, jumped on the railing, cut the end that attached to the ship, and jumped.

===

"Aika!"

The door burst open and Aika wheeled around. She met the eyes of Vyse as he stared at her incredulously. "What's the meaning of this? Why didn't you tell me?"

He was waving papers over his head.

__

That's right. He took some papers from this book.

"Tell you what?" Aika asked as she slid the book under her pillow.

Vyse stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. "Why didn't you tell me about the matchmaker?"

Aika froze.

__ __

A/N: Once again, thank you to all of you who reviewed. I'll try and get the next chapter out soon. 


	7. To the PASt

"Vyse…" Aika turned away. _He had gotten those papers???_

Vyse waited expectantly as he crossed his arms. They hadn't kept secrets from each other before, why was she starting now? He was about to ask her when he saw her slip a book from beneath a pillow. Vyse made a swipe for it, but Aika tackled him before he could get it in his hands.

Aika extracted herself from him quickly and said, "It's a journal Vyse…like the journal that Fina, you and I keep. However, this one contains memories from your dad, your mom, and my…" Aika swallowed a lump in her throat. "My parents."

When Aika looked up at Vyse, he could see the sadness lurking in the depths of her eyes. He almost felt sorry for bringing this up. 

Aika smiled at him, trying to hide her sadness, but failed miserably. "Don't worry, it's my fault for not telling you," she said quickly because she detected his regret. She slid off the bed and brought the book to him. "I didn't want to worry you needlessly about the matchmaker. I was searching for a way to avoid the _trouble_ that it was talking about, anyway."

Aika handed him the journal and made to leave until Vyse whispered a soft, "Aika." She turned around and looked at him. Without another word, he pulled her into his grasp and held her reassuringly. She could feel her worry, her sadness, her heartache flowing away from her heart. It was like Vyse was lifting some heavy blanket off of her body. She buried her head in his neck and sighed.

They stayed like that for a while as Vyse tried to figure out what to say. He was trying not to react to the feel of Aika's lips on his neck, but it was hard. She was so close. He could smell her hair…it was like the wind…and feel her breath…as hot as coals. 

Slowly, Aika pushed him away. "Vyse…thanks…" she said lamely as she tried to hide her blush from his eyes. 

"Aika. Whatever utter grief might happen, I'm sure we could conquer it."

Aika smiled at him. "You're always up for the challenge aren't you?" 

Before Vyse could say anything, Fina cried out, "Breakfast!"

Aika licked her lips. "I'm starved!" she said to Vyse and went to the door quickly. Turning around, she looked at Vyse expectantly. "Aren't you coming?"

"In a bit. I just have to do something," he said.

Aika nodded. "Just no peeking into my drawers, got that?" she hissed, and left him alone.

Vyse stared at the journal in his hands and opened it. After a few minutes of reading, he came across a bent page. "This has to have been where Aika left off." His eyes scanned the pages and he began to grow immersed in what was going on.

===

The largest party ever, occurred on Sailor's Island that night. Lanterns swayed along the clothes lines, keeping the island in a soft pale glow. Tables, filled with various types of food and drinks, lined the houses. Music, played by a band of children, was blaring every which way. The parents, busy recalling the tale of their adventures, paid no heed to the underage children that kept sneaking alcoholic drinks into their cups.

And through it all, a lone figure sat in the darkness and watched them with bleary eyes. No one had any idea how worried she had been the entire time the families were gone. It was only in the darkness of night that she could let her tears run free as she listened to the merry talk and music.

"What're you doing all the way over here, sexy?"

The girl froze at hearing that voice and quickly dried her eyes. "Nothing," she said tiredly and got up. She brushed the dirt from her skirt and looked back at the partying people. "Shouldn't you be over there recalling everything that happened?"

The man sighed. "My parents can handle it," he muttered softly. He leaned against a tree and slipped his hands into his pocket._ How can I when you're like this?_ he thought to himself. Instead, he said, "Rain, why are you crying?" He searched her face with his piercing gaze and said more softly, "Why are you hiding?"

She turned to him. She could see the scars, still glistening on his body, and face. It would take a few weeks for them to heal completely. _You could have died, you idiot, _was what she wanted to yell. She buried her head in her hands and let the tears flow freely then. "You idiot, why do you think?" She brushed madly at her wet face and glared up at him. "I don't want to let anyone see how weak I really am!"

"Is that what you think?" he asked incredulously. "Gods, Rain, you are the strongest person I know." He made to hug her, but she took a step back and ducked just out of his reach. He scrunched up his face and let out an impatient breath of air. "You were here for everyone while I was gone! You took care of the children, made sure they had food to eat, and things to do to occupy their minds. I may have left in search of my parents and friends…but you stayed and gave them strength. You gave them something I couldn't and for that we are all grateful."

He didn't know when he had dropped his voice to a near whisper, or when he wrapped his arms around her. All he knew was that she was there by his side with her own arms wrapped around his and her head laying against his chest. He could feel every breath she took, feel her tears soak through his shirt. "Dyne…"

He pulled away and looked down at her. He tilted her chin up to look clearly into her watery eyes and whispered, "Yes?"

Rain took a deep breath and smiled. "Will you marry me?"

Dyne was speechless. Wasn't it his job to propose to her? He shook himself out of his stupor and replied with a grin. She was an odd one…"Of course, Rain…"

Rain grinned up at him and gave him a long kiss.

===

"EWWWWW! MOM!" Vyse grimaced at reading that and flipped the pages forward.

===

As the night wore on, rumors of the marriage had spread. Dyne's father clapped him on the back while Dyne's mother screamed a congratulations at Rain. It caused more reason to celebrate, and more alcohol to be spread around.

People began dancing crazily to the music, and more and more people started to sing off key. 

Briggs stared at everyone, grinning like an idiot. Out of all the "children" there, he had the most to drink. He swayed and stumbled toward Dyne, saying, "So, you sessy, sessy man…congrats on getting hitched."

Dyne grinned back. "How come you're always hitting on me?"

Briggs tossed back another cup of loqua and muttered, "Thaz because you're a desirable man. Ain't that right, Rain?"

Rain nodded pleasantly, her eyes blazing with good humor.

"See? She agrees with me. Lake thought so too, until she saw you and Rain together. She thought you were the hunkiest of hunks…but then again…she's blind as a bat…my head hurts." With that, Briggs passed out, his goofy smile fading.

Rain looked up at Dyne, her eyes widening. They had all forgotten about Lake. Rain turned around and stared frantically through the crowed. How could she do this to her good friend? She walked away from Dyne and began to search around. After a few minutes of nothing, she walked up to a small group of sober children. "Have any of you guys seen Lake?"

Several people shook there heads. "Nope…she went off, about awhile back…Think it was after you and Dyne announced your engagement."

Dyne was instantly by her side. He grabbed a hold of Rain's hand and forced her to look at him. His eyebrow was furrowed in deep thought as he said, "Matter of fact, Raven seems to be missing as well. What do you think happened to them?"

Rain looked troubled. "I don't know, but we have to explain."

Dyne shook his head. "She already knew that we were together." He blushed. "She kind of gave me her blessing when we were searching for our parents."

Rain still looked worried and glanced around the island. They had to be somewhere, if only she could look hard enough.

"We haven't tried the look out place yet, have we?" Dyne said, motioning to the ladder that led up past several clouds to a little island that people would use to stare at the sunset, or to just keep lookout. "Maybe they're there."

"Together? They hate each other!" Rain scoffed, but she was already climbing up the ladder with Dyne right behind her.

When she made it to the top, she could see Lake sitting on the edge of a chest. She was staring up into the night sky as the stars twinkled at her.

"You haven't said anything."

Rain ducked down as soon as she heard Raven's voice. When Dyne came, Rain forced him down as well. "Shhh, I think it's getting good," she whispered.

"What is there to say?" replied Lake. She looked almost ethereal as the moon's light shone down on her long red hair and pale skin. The wind blew, stirring the tips of her hair so that it swayed behind her.

"You have to have some opinion of the matter," Raven said as he moved toward her. He brushed back the loose strands of his hair. He was facing her, with his eyes full of something that Rain had never seen before. It made her want to cry.

"What is it you want me to say, Rave?" Lake snapped as she jumped up and whirled on him. She stalked around him, eyeing him, as if he were her prey. "That, yes, I am now happy? That I finally got what I deserved?"

Rain bit her lip. "I knew it. She's mad that we got together."

Dyne's arm snaked around Rain's neck and he covered her mouth with his hand. "Shh."

"Look, Lake. You can't deny what we feel for each other," Raven sighed. He moved closer to Lake who had taken a step back.

Meanwhile, hidden away, Dyne and Rain's mouths dropped open. Raven and Lake? That sounded almost impossible…but they were really good friends (despite their arguing) and they were always by each other's sides.

Lake crossed her arms. She averted her eyes, so that she stared off into the distance. She was shivering, probably from the cold…or maybe something more. "If I don't deny it, something could happen to me…or you. I couldn't stand that. Tonight, when we kissed--"

Dyne nearly fainted when he heard those words.

"--I knew that if something happened to you, I wouldn't be able to live."

Raven's arms wrapped around Lake and he smiled mischievously. "So, you admit you have feelings?"

"Damn it, Rave! Don't you remember that prophecy?" Lake pushed him away and walked to the other end of the small island. She leaned against wooden fence that surrounded the island and whispered, "It said something bad would happen to us if we got together. If we play it safe, and just stayed away from each other, nothing bad will happen, right?"

"And to do that, we deny our feelings for each other," Raven hissed. "I don't know about you, Lake, but I can't lie to myself. I love you."

"Gods, don't say that, you moron."

It only took Raven three long steps to get to Lake, and when he did, he trapped her against the railing by placing an arm on each side of her. "But I do. I won't deny it, and neither should you."

He stopped her from talking by wrapping his lips around her mouth. After a few moments, he pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers. "Be with me, Lake," he breathed. "Be with me, stay with me, marry me…I don't care…as long as we're together I'm sure everything will be alright."

Lake shivered slightly. "Everything will be alright," she whispered as she shut her eyes.

Rain nearly gagged after watching that seen. When her and Dyne got down from the ladder she fell into his arms and said, "Can you believe how mushy those two are?"

"I know," replied Dyne with a laugh. "Made me sick to my stomach."

===

Vyse shut the book and tossed it on Aika's bed. Aika's mom had said what he had been thinking the whole time since he had first read those papers. _If we play it safe, and just stayed away from each other, nothing bad will happen, right?_

Aika's parents hadn't left each other alone. They had made Aika for goodness' sake…but, his mind told him, _look where it had gotten them. They're dead now…_

So, if I want nothing bad to happen to my best friend, I have to stay away from her. "Can I make that sacrifice? Aika and I've always been together for as long as I can remember…how can I just leave her?"

"Vyse? Who're you talking to?" Aika asked as she opened her door. She peeked at all the corners, (actually, she was looking to see if the drawers of her cabinet were pulled out and was pleased that they weren't).

"No one," he replied with an embarrassed grin. He rubbed the back of his head, a nervous habit that Aika immediately recognized.

She walked up to him, debating if she should ask him any more questions. However, that decision was made for her when she heard his stomach cry out in hunger. "Well, then, you can talk to _no one _after breakfast. You look…er...sound starved…Really, Vyse, you need something to eat." 

__

Her eyes, always caring…

"Well, you slow poke, are you coming?" Aika demanded as she placed her hands on her hips.

__

Her lips, always joking…

Vyse looked deeply into Aika's eyes and smiled sadly. Aika caught only a glimpse of the emotion in his eyes and was about to ask him what it was when he covered her hand with his and tugged her to the door. "I'm starving. What's there to eat."

__

Could I really stay away from her?

Aika shrugged away her question and went with the change of topic. "Well, Fina made some rocking food today…"

If we played it safe, and just stayed away from each other, nothing bad will happen…right?


	8. To the PASt

I don't own Skies of Arcadia.

===

She didn't know what it was, but since Vyse had left her room and eaten breakfast that morning, he was purposely avoiding her. She normally wouldn't have noticed, but he actually made a show of avoiding her. Whenever she was about to walk past him, he would turn, drop anything he was doing, and leave.

__

So, her thoughts immediately turned conniving, _he did something to my room…I just have to find out what he did…maybe I should trap him first._

Aika, with a plan slowly unfolding, went to the stock room and looked inside. She saw a barrel full of food and decided to hide it beneath some old sails. Fully happy by the illusion that it made, she wandered out and found Fina.

"Fina, can you tell Vyse that we're out of food?"

Fina's eyebrows drew together. "Out of food? But didn't we just stock up at Nasr?"

Aika nodded, her face echoing the confusion that Fina projected. "I thought so, too. However, I looked in the storage to see if we had anything to eat, just for a snack, you know, but there wasn't anything there."

Fina nodded, accepting this as fact, but then asked, "How come you don't tell him yourself?"

"Well," Aika said, "I have to go and chart some of the maps." It was lie. She had finished the charts more than a week ago, but Fina nor Vyse knew that. Sometimes, it just paid to finish work sooner rather than later. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Fina grinned and went to find Vyse.

Vyse stared at the endless blue sky, his mind debating on how far he would go to keep him and Aika apart. So far, the avoiding her thing was working, but he couldn't do that forever. He needed another plan.

At that moment, he saw Fina make her way toward him and wondered briefly, _should I make it look like Fina and I are together?_ He immediately squashed that idea. He wouldn't play with any of their feelings if he could help it. He had to deal with this on his own.

Fina told him about the lack of supply and he immediately became confused. "Take the wheel, I'll go check the stock room and see if Aika just missed it."

"Aye-aye, captain," Fina said as she gleefully took over the wheel. "Wait, Vyse, where are we going?"

Vyse thought for a moment. "Steer the ship toward Pirate Island. I have to talk to my parents."

Aika hid behind one of the boxes and waited till Vyse would appear. Her leg hurt like crazy, but she wasn't about to say anything, not until he appeared. 

Then, the door creaked open and she looked up. Vyse pushed the door wide open and stepped inside, looking around. He scratched his head and stared at all the sails that were spread everywhere. He moved forward and tried to pull them off.

Seeing this as her chance, Aika extracted herself from the boxes and leapt toward Vyse, fully ready to tackle him.

Seeing something move from the corner of his eyes, Vyse reacted quickly, turning his body. He grabbed the entity in his hands and used their weight to hurl them to the floor. He sat on top of them, drew his blade, and pressed it against their neck. He looked down, his eyes widening, as he met Aika's gaze.

She didn't say a word. Her red hair, messed from the slight wind, was sprawled in a halo behind her. Her eyes, lit with slight surprise and amusement, stared at him unblinkingly. He could feel her chest rising and falling quickly pressing against his own, expressing the quick energy she exerted over a short period of time. He was so close to her, if he could just lean forward a bit then he could touch her lips to his…

"Vyse?"

He snapped out of his hypnotic trance and shook his head a little. He re-sheathed his blade and got up, holding out a hand to help her. She shook her head slightly and stood on her own, straightening out her dress and smoothing back her hair.

They were silent as they tried to search for a topic to fill the lack of talk.

"I--"

"That--"

They had both started and stopped at the same time. Aika was blushing furiously as she whispered, "Go ahead," and Vyse started with a "You first."

Again, uncomfortable silence fell over them.

__

This is ridiculous! We're suppose to be great friends! I've known him my whole life and I've told him everything! What's stopping me now?! Aika opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Vyse did likewise. 

"There's still food here," he murmured.

Happy to grasp at any topic, Aika nodded. "I hid it on purpose." Vyse gave her a questioning look and Aika continued. "Well, you've been avoiding me since this morning and I wanted to know what was going on. It was clear that you weren't going to find and talk to me, so I thought that I'd make you talk to me."

Her old fire was returning to her eyes, making Vyse feel more comfortable. "Well, you did a good job in scaring the crap out of me."

Aika grinned. "I learned from the best, remember?"

Vyse smirked at her words. He recalled that when they were little, Aika and he would play tag with Luke and some of the younger people on Dyne's crew, and he would have Aika draw them into a trap and he would ambush them. "Yeah, I do. Those were fun times."

"Yeah, they were, but we won't have fun together, anymore at least, if you're avoiding me. So, tell me what you did to my room."

Vyse paused. "To your room?"

"Well, that's why you're avoiding me, right?" When Vyse didn't answer, Aika frowned slightly. She took a step forward, but to her horror, Vyse took a step back. He never did that. "Why are you avoiding me, Vyse?"

__

Because, I want to protect you…he wanted to say, but he couldn't get those words out. He knew that she would just argue with him, saying that she could protect herself, but her parents couldn't protect themselves. They were long gone and now she was the only one left from their legacy. In a strained voice, Vyse said, "Aika, I'm taking us back to Pirate Isle. I'm taking you back. I can't sail with you anymore."

Aika's ears rang. She couldn't understand--wouldn't understand why he was pushing her away like this. Did she do something? Was he not telling her something? She tried to capture his eyes with her to find the truth, but he was avoiding her stare. _Damn him for not telling me everything…_What had been in her room to make him do this? Her mind filtered through all her stuff and landed on one object: the journal. He had read something in there to make him do this.

She fled from the storage room and ran all the way back to her room. She had to read what he had seen. She had to know why.

Her mother's words echoed across the page. _If we just left each other alone…_Aika bit her lip. That was what this was all about. Vyse was trying to protect her from getting hurt by pushing her away. Fully angry now, she was about to gut him alive when she decided to continue reading. Maybe there was more to these journal entries, another way that she could use to keep the awful thing from occurring while still being at Vyse's side.

Opening the book, she decided to skip the pages marked Wedding Nights and read about the day her and Vyse had come into the world.

===

Dyne was like a little hurricane as he stomped across the room, his hands held tightly behind him and his eyes burning like mad. His parents, Raven's parents, and all the other parents had long since moved to another island to begin their lives as retired folk and gamble their savings away, so that he was now the captain and leader of Pirate Isle. Even though he was promoted to such a fine task and seemed the fearless leader, something always got through his barrier and defenses he had to erect as a leader. That something was his wife, Rain.

Rain had been with child for close to 10 months now, the child was late, and that morning had complained of pains. It wasn't long before her water broke and he had, half dressed, run out the door searching for a mid-wife. The best he could do was find Lake, the only one awake enough, to come and help.

Lake was inside the room with Rain now, and Dyne was shoved out into the living room to await the cries of a baby. Raven, too, who had married Lake a few months after Dyne and Rain, was watching him with too much amusement that Dyne was annoyed. "What?" he asked after a few moments.

Raven shrugged. "Damn, Dyne. I just can't picture a miniature you running around this place, bumping into walls and sharp corners and ordering people around. Oh man, we're in for 18 years of hell, aren't we?"

Dyne scowled for a second, but his mouth broke into a fierce grin. "If I'm not mistaken, isn't Lake 6 months pregnant. Could you imagine a person with your smooth manner and calculating mind coupled with your wife's sarcasm and clumsiness? You, my friend, have created a monster."

"Touché," replied Raven as he lay back in his seat. He looked up into the dark planks over his head. "You know about the prophesy, right?"

Dyne nodded absently, half his hearing focused on the other room, the other half on his friend. "What about it?"

"Well, I was wondering, what if the horrible tragedy was the life of my child. I don't think I could handle that."

Dyne stared at Raven. "Nothing has happened to you guys yet. Besides, I never thought of you to listen to a prophesy; I thought you had that devil may care attitude that makes you think that none of that crap could ever happen."

"I did," Raven began, "before I became a father. Now, I have to think of all these other things and it's making my head hurt."

"I know." Dyne replied and found himself a seat. He leaned on his knees and stared at Raven. "What if we screw up and accidentally throw them off the island?"

"How can we--" Raven began but as that thought formed, his eyebrow arched showing Dyne that he gave that question a good thought. "I think if we screw up in anyway, the only answer is: our wives would kill us," he said with finality.

Suddenly, they heard some crying from the other room followed by Lake's tired voice. "Dyne, your ugly baby's here." She emerged from the room, her hair disheveled and a smug smile on her lips.

Dyne bolted up off of his chair and flew to the door where he would meet his son for the first time. The baby, small and chubby, wailed as loud as he could in his mother's embrace and his arms and legs wiggled in the air, reaching out for something that it couldn't touch. Dyne smiled in bliss and kissed his wife on the forehead. "He's beautiful," he whispered as he took the baby out of his wife's hands and held him close. "I have a feeling he'll be the bane of my existence."

"Me too," Rain whispered. "This little one, he was breeched, according to Lake, that's why it took so long. However, she told me that he was a fighter, he never gave up, and that's why he's here. He's definitely got your blood," Rain murmured.

Dyne grinned. "What are we going to call him?" Dyne asked as he caressed his son's cheek. It was soft and smooth, like the feathers on a young bird. He ran his eyes over the brown hair, barely visible, and the determined brown eyes.

Rain returned his smile, exhaustion apparent in her face. He replaced his child in his mother's arms as Rain whispered, "I think we should call him Vyse."

Dyne grinned. "Yeah, I like that." He turned to his child, his little Vyse, and cooed at him.

From the doorway, Lake and Raven were watching. Raven had twined his arms around his wife's shoulders and lay his hands on her swelling baby. Thoughts of the prophesy flitted across his mind as he watched Dyne and Rain and Vyse. He couldn't imagine himself, Lake, and their little child in that position, only to loose the kid. He couldn't, he vowed, let anything happen to the unborn baby. He would protect it no matter the cost.

He leaned his chin against Lake's head, who batted him away. "You're chin's too pointy. It feels like your jabbing me with a blunt knife."

He grinned at her and twirled her around. "Yeah? Well, yours isn't much better. A cleft in the middle there? It looks like someone's anus!"

Her eyebrows drew downward, but her eyes hinted of amusement. "Well, I know it's a lot more firmer than people's _real_ ones," she said as she glanced over her husband's shoulder.

His hand darted under her chin and forced her to look up at him. He couldn't imagine loosing his love either. He would die before anything would happen to them, he did hope it would never come to that extreme, but he knew that he would. He fiercely kissed her lips, the sheer force of it pushing her head back slightly. She looked at him after they broke the kiss. "What was that for?" she asked.

He shook his head and took her by the hand. "I'm hungry, go cook something for me woman!"

"Go to hell, man."


	9. TO the PasT

===

Aika grinned at the pages. She really loved how her parents acted. They were everything that she could ever imagine: smart, adventurous, determined…

She sniffed slightly as she pushed the journal away from her. She brushed her eyes against her arm, feeling the cold wetness. _Now's not the time, Aika,_ she told herself. She picked up the journal again.

"This stuff isn't going to help me at all. I need to find something more…helpful…" She flipped through the pages, explaining her birth and the few on how she and Vyse were the world's most monstrous children and landed to a part that read:

__

"…I could see my young Aika running around the room in a circle and called out to her. She didn't even look up at me; she was too busy with her task. I moved forward and tried to pick her up, but to my horror, my hand passed through her body, as if she were a ghost, or I was the ghost…I don't know what made me think of the prophecy then…it's been three years since I even thought about it. After getting Aika, all healthy, I thought that it was nothing more than Armada BS… 

…I woke up soon after that, hearing my husband's snore, and I was somewhat comforted. I got up, went to my dear Aika's room and spent the rest of the night staring at her angelic face. I vow that I will never let anything happen to her nor my husband…"

===

Lake smiled as she heard her husband enter the kitchen and plop himself on the counter beside her cooking. He gave her a lopsided grin and a peck on her forehead. "What is that horrible smell?"

"Why, honey," Lake began with her best confused smile, "I think it's you."

Raven gave her a playful smack to the shoulder and Lake tried to return it; however, much to her annoyance, Raven kept dodging her attack. She missed once again when they heard a small yawn from behind them. 

Distracted, Raven turned around and saw his little eight year old girl holding onto the frame of the door. Her large eyes were staring up at him and his mother. Then, a sudden smirk brightened up her face. Raven felt a slightly painful pinch on his shoulder and turned to stare at his wife. "You're both against me!" he said accusingly and pointed a shaky finger at his wife and at his child.

"Ha, ha!" Aika clapped her hands, "Mama got you, Daddy!"

"She did, did she?" Raven hissed, although he had a grin on his face. "Well…" he slithered up to his daughter and grabbed her by the mid section, tickling her. "We just have to get her back, now, don't we?"

He carried Aika toward her mother and he and his daughter began to tickle the helpless Lake. Laughter echoed throughout the entire house until the ground began to tremble. Immediately, the family stopped, listening intently to the noises outside.

They heard Dyne's muffled screaming for all the young women and children to hide out in the underground. They heard Rain's soft and reassuring voice, cutting through the panic and calming everyone. They heard a bunch of feet pitter pattering across the dirt floors outside their home.

Suddenly, their door slammed open and Vyse, dark haired with a chipped tooth, popped his head inside. He ran immediately toward Aika and began pulling on her arm. "You've gotta see this. It's awesome!" he said.

Aika looked back at her parents and pleaded, "Can I go? PLEASE?! PLEASE?! PLEASE?! PLEASE?!"

Lake, who was too busy wondering what was going on, missed the slight wink that her husband gave the children. They were immediately out the door in a second.

Lake unglued herself from the floor and went to her room. She grabbed a few weapons while her brow furrowed and her mouth tightened. She, in other words, was angry.

Raven went to follow her, making sure his league of weapons were secure all around him. When he finally caught up with his wife, he made her slow down her steps and said, "We should find out what's happening first before we bash stuff in."

Lake nodded, her grip loosening on her weapon and her face starting to relax. "Fine," she said thoughtfully.

They both left the house and found Dyne a few minutes later. His hand was around Vyse's collar as Vyse struggled to keep moving forward. Aika was pulling on Vyse's arm, trying to help her friend escape.

"And what exactly is going on here?" Raven asked as he stopped by his daughter. 

"We saw explosions on Shrine Island!" Aika said. "It was huge!"

"Explosions?" Lake arched an eyebrow and looked at Dyne. "What happened?"

Dyne shook his head in exasperation. Holding his son at bay and thinking were really difficult to do at once. "One of our parties was investigating Shrine Island when a Black Pirate ship boarded. We need to assemble the team and go help our friends."

"Black Pirates? What are they doing in our area? They usually stay around Nasr or any port with gold."

Dyne bit his lip in worry. "I don't know. However, I do recognize the flag that waves on the ship." He fished in the pocket of his pants with his free hand and handed it over to Raven.

Raven arched an eyebrow as he stared at the scope. "Why are do you keep this in there?" Before Dyne could stutter out an answer, Raven took the scope and focused it on the ship. The slight intake of his breath caused Lake to steal the scope and check out the situation for herself.

"It's the same pirates that took our families long ago," she whispered and handed the scope back to Dyne. "Well they aren't getting any closer to this place, are they? This can't be an option!"

Dyne finally let his son go and the boy scrambled up to the edge of the island trying to gain a better look. Aika followed close behind him and gasped as they saw another explosion. Why exactly a ship was attacking an island, they didn't know, but it appeared to fascinate the two.

Meanwhile, Lake was staring at Dyne, waiting for him to talk. Her foot was lightly tapping on the ground and her arms were crossed. A frown worried her face and her eyes dared him to keep quiet.

Raven interrupted. "I've heard rumors of how strong they are now, how the immobilized quickly for a mere Black Pirate crew. Someone wants revenge, don't they?" When Dyne didn't answer Raven moved forward and grasped his long time friend's shoulder. "We have to do it, Dyne, there's no other choice."

Dyne exhaled and nodded slowly. "I don't like it, Raven."

"Excuse me, men? Could you start talking some sense so the audience--" she pointed to herself, "can understand?"

Raven smiled weakly at his wife. "Well, the Black Pirate ship has stronger weapons than we carry and the head person is a strategist. The only way we can beat him is if we come up with some sort of diversion, making him think we have a stronger force and it divides his attention up between the real fighters and the diversionists…someone could even board and rig everything on their ship…"

"But what would our diversion be?" she asked.

Both men stared at each other for a moment. "I guess," Raven replied, "I would have to be it."

"What?" Lake cried out causing the two children, who were enamored with the light display, to turn around and stare at the adults. "You can't be serious!"

"Look, Lake, Raven is the best with screwing around with engines. He can cause a large noise or explosion or whatever in order for the Black Pirates to turn the other way. Then one of our best people can cause damage within the ship, right? It would give us the edge we need to defeat them."

"And who's dumb enough as well as smart enough to go into a ship full of deranged Black Pirates, kick the crap out of their weaponry after sneaking in, then hopefully make an exit without getting their arses blown off?"

Both men stared at her, their eyes twinkling with plea.

"Now you're just out of it. I have a daughter. A DAUGHTER that I have to look out for. I left that crap behind long ago! And there's no telling what could go wrong--"

"But Lake, this is why we do this. We have to keep our daughter safe, from _them,_" Raven interjected. He could see his wife's eyes flicker at the thought and she bowed her head slightly. She didn't like the risk that she would be taking, especially after the whole dream she had last night. It really freaked her out.

Her eyes wandered to her child, her lovely child with her eyes so bright and full of laughter and happiness. She couldn't let anyone rid the world of her Aika. She still didn't feel right about this, but if she had to do this, she would.

Slugging both Dyne and Raven in the arm, she spat out, "Smart men my eye. If you were really geniuses, you would figure out something less dangerous!"

"So, does that mean you'll do it?"

Lake hesitated in her speech before she let out a quiet, "Bastards," followed by a nod.

===

Aika turned the page. There was only one left and it only carried one line. She read it thoughtfully, wondering how this could ever help her:

__

It wasn't that long when I decided that I should leave her behind. My Aika, my little love. I knew that this time, I would never come back and I'd miss the chance to see her grow old. I'd never see her fall in love, or see her first real raid…but to save her, I had to leave…we had to leave…

Suddenly, she felt a lurch followed by Fina's call. "Aika, we're back on Pirate Isle. Come on out of there and say hi to Dyne and Rain!"

Aika stared at the book. How could there be no more? How come there wasn't any information on how she and Vyse could stay together? How come she felt more lost than when she first started reading the journal? Did she miss something?

She flipped the pages back, never going to wedding nights, and read a passage that she had skipped.

It was from her father:

__

Sometimes, I never really think about how hard life can be. I have a daughter now, a lovely daughter with a face like an angels, but the courage, determination and skill that can rival any man…or anyone (maybe not her mother). Even though she's only six, I already know the type of woman that she will be. I'll be proud of her no matter what…I guess I'm already proud of her.

Aika paused over those words as her door opened and Fina entered. "Come on," Fina said cheerfully, "We have to go and greet Vyse's parents."

Aika's head turned slightly. Vyse's parents…they would know the truth behind everything…

Aika stood up and followed Fina to the exit of the ship. Whatever happened, she would not let Vyse leave her behind or let some prophecy beat her down. She would fight with the courage, determination and skill her father had mentioned…

She felt as if she were ready to face the world.


	10. to the PAST

I don't own Skies of Arcadia

===

Rain was surprised to hear the roar of an engine so close to her house. She quickly put the dishes she had been washing away and grabbed a towel to dry her hands. When she was done, she dropped the towel by the sink and made her way to the outside.

Smiling softly, she noted the large wooden ship hovering closer as well as the blue flag that flew prominently in the wind. She let out a small sigh and made her way to the docking island ready to see her son for the first time in many months.

Several children who were playing in the center of the village with a little dog seemed to stop in their games of tag or hide and seek, Rain wasn't really sure not having played either game in a long time. She could hear one of them yell, "Vyse, Aika, and Fina are back! Let's go see them!"

The children scurried past her, following the ship and waving their hands frantically at it, hoping that Vyse would peek over and smile at them. However, there wish wasn't granted and Rain had a distinct feeling that something was wrong. As a matter of fact, the second that the ship docked, Vyse had been the first to exit without Fina nor Aika by his side.

Rain stepped up to her son and gave him a warm hug and a reassuring smile. He returned the smile, although forcefully she noted, and said, "I'll be right back. I'll just go and greet Dad."

Rain nodded at her son and he hurried away, not waiting for his traveling companions. At this point, Rain cocked an eyebrow. What was going on? This wasn't like her son at all.

"Fina! Aika!" The children chanted as the two women slipped off board. They sauntered closer to the group, Fina carrying tons of toys for them, and Aika following close behind her. Aika had a determined way that described tribulations in her which made Rain nearly catch her breath. It was like looking at Lake on that day, so long ago…

Rain walked over to Fina and relieved the younger woman of all the packages. "You must be tired," she said with a warm grin. "Go and take a rest. There's a cake back at my house, if you want."

Fina bowed. "Thank you very much, but I would wish to play with these children for a little while. It's been so long since I've seen any of them."

Rain nodded quickly. "Sure. If you get tired, don't hesitate to come to my home." Rain then turned her eyes to Aika, searching for something, anything, to tell her of the odd behavior that both Aika and Vyse were showing. "Aika, would you help me, please?"

Aika suddenly flinched as if she had been suddenly brought back into reality. She looked at Rain and grinned smoothly, all the tension and troubles that she looked to have harbored, vanished. Rain was suddenly reminded of Raven and his easy grins and smooth appeal. Aika was definitely her father's daughter. "Of course. You don't need to ask me~!" she sang and reached for the packages. "Back to the old house then?"

Rain nodded, following Aika at a much slower pace. Something wasn't right and she wanted to find out what the problem was, now.

--

Vyse forced the old door open, hearing the annoying creak of the wooden door. He had promised his father that he would fix it on his last arrival, but had completely forgotten about it. When he stepped into the office, everything looked as if he had never left. The book shelf, still on the far side of the door, tittered unsteadily as wind blew past it from the back. The desk, on Vyse's left, was still wide and majestic in the dimly lit room. Sitting at the desk, his father, Dyne, was looking at maps.

Dyne looked up momentarily before glancing back at the maps. "Vyse," Dyne regarded setting down one of the old maps. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "What brings you back here?"

Vyse's throat suddenly constricted. How could he tell his father that he wanted him to watch over Aika for now? It was hard enough as it was to admit that he didn't want this to occur, and sure enough his dad would ask him questions, tough questions that Vyse wasn't ready to face--

"Vyse?" Dyne questioned, this time turning his alert eyes onto his son. "Is there something on your mind?"

Vyse felt like a little boy again, under his father's watchful gaze. He wanted to shrink away, deny that there was anything wrong, but, no. He was Vyse the freaking Legend. He had courage enough to defy someone as powerful as the Armada fleet, had fought large monstrosities, had witnessed destruction but still fought on. Of course he was strong enough to tell his father such simple words…so why wouldn't his mouth work?

"Look, Vyse. You're obviously on some drugs right now. Do I have to lecture you on the effects--"

"No," Vyse croaked, ignoring his father's wide smile. "It's not that. Dad, I don't want Aika on my crew anymore. Please watch over for her duration on Sailor's Isle."

Dyne cocked an eyebrow and pushed himself up. He walked around his desk until he was in the front of the long table, then leaned against it. He crossed his arms and looked thoughtful for a moment. "If you two had a fight, this isn't the way to handle it."

"It's not that, Dad. I--" Vyse took a deep breath and told his father everything. He told him about the journal that belonged to Raven, Lake, Dyne, and Rain. He told them about the prophecy, how he and Aika were involved, and of course, about his need to keep his best friend out of trouble.

Dyne just shook his head in utter disbelief. "Are you telling me that you're unwilling to fight? This doesn't sound like you."

Vyse suddenly grew angry. He took a dangerous step forward and snarled, "This isn't just some fancy fight with a monster. I'm talking about Aika's life. Aika's life! I don't want anything to happen to her--Dad, I love her too much to have her jeopardize her life!"

"Well, at least you admitted something to yourself," Dyne said thoughtfully and looked at his son with such tired eyes that it drained all the anger away from Vyse. "How do you think Aika will take this sudden news that she's off your crew? Lying down? I doubt it."

"Look what happened with Aika's parents. I don't want the same thing to happen to her," Vyse whispered quietly. "And I know I can't really do anything to prevent it from coming into existence, but I can sure as hell try something."

Vyse took a deep breath trying to clear his thoughts. "Just knowing she's okay is all I need to keep me going. If she were more like mom and stayed at home--"

"Then you wouldn't like her as much as you do now," Dyne interrupted. He pushed himself away from the table and went to his bookshelf. On one of the top shelves, he pulled out a thick book, an old one by the looks of it, and opened it. Inside, the pages had been scraped out to reveal a secret compartment with a loqua bottle within. Dyne withdrew the loqua bottle and tossed it as his son. "Before I hit twelve, Aika's father and I found that in here. Around the same age, you and Aika wandered in here and found it--and drank a lot of it. Your mother nearly tore my ear off with her nagging. She told me to throw it away, but I told her that one day, you'd come to me with a problem, and we'd need this to sort through it. This baby's got 80 percent alcohol in it."

Vyse's eyebrows shot up. Out of all the things he was expecting, this was the last. He unscrewed the top of the loqua bottle and took a shot. It felt like fire burning down his esophagus as he drank. 

After the initial shot, he threw the bottle back and his dad who in turn took a drink. Dyne nodded as he wiped his lips with his sleeve. "Vyse, do you remember the day Raven and Lake left?"

Vyse was about to answer, but stopped at the lost look in his father's eyes. Vyse could tell he was remembering the past, dredging up memories he had long suppressed.

"Those damned Black Pirates were out for revenge that day, coming at our Island, showing us their power by blasting parts of Shrine Island. If you didn't know, when Raven, Lake, and I went to save our parents, I sorta went ballestic and killed tons of people in one of the rooms--I killed a lot of old men, one of them was Lorenzo the Gloom's father. 

"After Lorenzo found out that I killed his father, he came after our Island, intent on killing everything in site, including all those I held dear: Your mother, you, my friends, and Pirate Isle."

===

Dyne watched the destruction with a keen eye. For all that he knew, he was leading his friends into their death. He glanced up at Raven and Lake who held on to their daughter like there was no tomorrow. They each kissed her chubby face and whispered words of love and encouragement. Raven, especially, had a hard time of letting his little daughter go with Rain and Vyse underground to where it was safer.

Aika whispered something then that made Dyne want to force Raven and Lake back. She held out her arms to her mom and dad and said, "But you'll be back soon, right? You promised that we could go on an adventure together."

Vyse hit Aika on the shoulder with a fist and said, "Don't worry. I'll always take you on adventures with me!"

Aika frowned and crossed her arms. "I'd prefer my parents over you!"

The two began to squabble once again and Rain gave a sigh of hopelessness as she led the two children into the underground. Rain turned back once to look at Lake one last time and say, "I'll see you back in no time, kay?"

Lake nodded and turned to Dyne. "So, Captain, when are we off? The sooner we're done, the sooner I can see my baby girl again."

===

"You made a promise, Vyse. You said you'd always take Aika on adventures with you."

Vyse had grown quiet at his father's words. "A promise made long ago. You can't honestly tell me that you always keep your promises, Dad."

Dyne's eyebrows shot up at those words and he looked just a little agitated. "Actually, I do. I've been keeping one for ten years now."

"What do you mean?"

"Another story for another time," Dyne replied as he motioned to the bottle of loqua. "Right now, we have to discuss Aika."

===

Aika smiled at Vyse's mother, wondering why the elder woman had wanted her to stay. They sat in the kitchen--well, Vyse's mother was chopping on vegetables and Aika was sitting on the counter, watching. 

Suddenly, Aika felt a little brash. She had come onto Pirate Isle for a reason and now was the best time to ask. "Mrs. Dyne…er…Vyse's Mom…no." Aika bit the side of her cheek and shook her head. This wasn't going as planned and she had no way of redeeming herself after that. However, she already stuck herself this deep in the mud, she might as well plunge in deeper. "I was wondering--do you know how my parents really died?"

Rain dropped the knife she held, her hand too shaky to control the heavy hbject. Grabbing a towel and wiping her hands clean, Rain turned to look at Aika's curious face before she said, "What brought this on?"

Aika explained about the entire journal and how Vyse was trying to protect her by making her stay put. As Aika said those words, Rain's face became red and she looked about ready to yell. "That son of mine! Sometimes he can be as dimwitted as his father!"

"Look, Aika, I know it may look like your parents died because of some stupid prophecy, but I can assure you that that wasn't the case."

"So, what was the case?"

Rain bit the bottom of her lip. "Aika…I guess you only have a right to know." Rain took a deep breath and another one. "There's no easy way to say this, honey. You know that your parents loved you very much and would do nothing to hurt you intentionally."

Aika was tired of this nonsense. She wanted answers and it sounded like Rain was beating around the bush. "Look, if you're not going to tell me, then--"

Rain placed her hands on Aika's knees and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "Aika, your parents…they chose to die."

===

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! CLIFF!!!!!!!!!!!!

No worries, the last part will be up in two or three days.


	11. TO THE PAST

I don't own Skies of Arcadia

===

"What are you talking about they chose to die," Vyse cried. "The prophecy said--"

"The prophecy is BS, Vyse. It's just a load of BS," Dyne interrupted as he stared at his son squarely in the eye. "Aika's parents knew what they were doing when they made their decisions, could have been spared if they chose to." Dyne shook his head at the memory.

"I don't understand."

"How could you!" Dyne's voice flared with anger. At the emotionally filled silence, Dyne took a few steadying breaths before he said, "It wasn't a prophecy that was fulfilled. It was a promise that the four of us, Lake, Raven, your mother and I, made a long time ago."

---

Aika jumped off of the counter and stared squarely into Rain's eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded, loosing every ounce of humor and grace that she normally carried. It scared Rain to hear Aika talking like that. Throughout all the years that she had known the little red head, Aika had never talked in a voice that sounded…sounded so dead. 

Rain took a deep breath, finally realizing that it was time to tell Aika everything. Before, however, Rain took Aika by the wrist and led the younger woman into her bedroom. There, she made Aika sit on one of the beds while Rain rummaged through old boxes that she kept hidden underneath her bed. Finding a small frame, she plucked it out and handed it to Aika. In the picture, she could see four people about her age, each smiling at one another with a bottle of loqua in each of their hands.

Rain sat next to Aika and said, "That's a picture of Dyne, Raven, Lake, and I before we ventured into the skies for the first time by ourselves…without our parents. It was so amazing. It was like being more than free and independent. It was like finding ourselves." Rain hesitated a moment and smiled down at the picture. She carefully plucked it from Aika's hands and opened the back. Removing several brownish papers, she revealed several scrawls written on the back of the picture. _Promises are made and will forever be carried out,_ it read. Underneath were Rain, Dyne, Raven, and Lake's signatures. 

"We each made a promise that day, that no matter what, we'd always be there for each other, protecting each other, and loving one another. It did, however, take a bit of coercion on Dyne's part to force your mother to sign it. She and Raven had a small feud between them during that time."

"Why is this important?" Aika asked impatiently. She knew she was being rude, but the shock of finding out her parents chose to die was gnawing at the pit of her stomach. It made her sick, sad, and alone all at once. 

Rain looked at Aika thoughtfully, but her stern eyes told Aika to be quiet while she related the entire tale. "Well, with Raven, Lake, and Dyne's personalities, trouble seemed to follow them wherever they went. They angered many people during their adventures including a small tribe of Black Pirates. 

"These weren't any normal Black Pirates, though. Certain clans carry just a bit more power than the others, you see. Some of them control the black markets and are essentially kings in there own circles. When Dyne, Raven, and Lake's parents were captured--did you ever really find out why they were targeted?"

Aika bit her lip. She never really thought about that. She just thought they were off finding treasure and were caught. "Not really," she admitted gingerly.

"Well, they were investigating the black markets and got a little too close to finding out a conspiracy. At this point, the Armada had completely ignored the black markets on the outside even though they had the power to stop them because the Armada was getting some kick backs from the black market trades on weaponry.

"But, what Lake and Raven's parents found wouldn't let those pirates get away with this trade anymore and the Armada couldn't ignore them, if they wanted public opinion to be alright."

Aika looked baffled and asked, "Why would they care what other people thought. They didn't strike me as people who cared."

Rain nodded. "Yes, but before they had settlements to fund their city, they used rich nobles. These nobles would help finance the Armada so they could get weapons. If they found out that the government wasn't using their money to get the weapons for full price, they would figure out that their money wasn't going into the economy but into the pockets of the monarchs. They wouldn't look upon that favorably and would stop their funding--and the king and queen needed money with their more than extravagant spending."

Rain paused a moment as she looked upon Aika. "I know it sounds off topic, but this ties in to the story of your parents."

Aika didn't say anything.

"If you recall, your grandfather and grandmother were captured and Dyne, Raven, and Lake went to help free them. However, their parents were held by the most notorious of the Black Pirates. They were known as the clan of Gloom."

"Gloom?" Aika scoffed. "What a horrible name! That just curses your entire life on how your future's going to be!"

Rain couldn't help but smile at that. "Yes, well, that's what your mother thought as well…er…anyway…" Rain tried to remember, but it felt long ago. She shut her eyes, seeing the ghosts of the past emerge out of the darkness. She could see her friends, smiling and waving as they came back from their victory. She, however, noticed the solemn look that crossed Lake's face for only a second before she cracked a smile at her.

"Er…Rain?" Aika whispered causing Rain to jump out of her reverie.

Rain blushed. "Sorry, just trying to remember. I'm an old person now…" She put the picture frame she had been holding on to on the bed next to her and pulled out the paper that had been cushioning the picture. Rain unwrapped it, revealing pages from the journal, the writing belonging to Lake. Rain passed her eyes over them before she said, "When they came back with their parents, something within the trio had changed, like they knew more than what they were saying. I don't even think they wrote it into the book--they never even told me what happened, not entirely, at least."

---

Dyne sighed as he stared at his son. Recalling the torturous tale was something he didn't want to do. "The shortest thing I can say is that I killed Lorenzo's father and he wanted revenge. But that's not the only thing, though. When we were escaping, Raven held back for a bit, holding off several people as Lake and I were making our escape. Raven shot Lorenzo in the eye and leg to stop the young man from attacking all of us. Lorenzo never forgot the both of us…Thoughts of revenge consumed him to the point where he could no longer see reason. He wanted us both dead for causing him so much pain.

"As I was telling you, the Armada had lost their black market sponsors and had to put on a front to show that they were after the Black Pirates. In actuality, they were helping fund the Black Pirates so they could search us out and silence us once and for all for causing them so much. Like Lorenzo, they hated us as well because we were the ones to ruin their little scheme.

"So, we essentially made two powerful enemies. One with the knowledge to beat us and one with the money to finance this revenge. When the Black Pirates came that day, they were more armed than the likes of anyone had ever seen. Our island, with the limited weapons of before, could have done nothing if we didn't send distractions nor use Lake's ability at sabotage. I remember it, although it was long ago…"

===

Lake stared at him with tired eyes. She had been rummaging through her house, searching for small gadgets that she could use to incapacitate the damned ship. Her eyes wavered for a split second as thoughts consumed her. Dyne could read her like a book, ever since they were young children. He could see that thoughts of Aika were plaguing her. 

"What is it?" he asked. Raven had already embarked on his expedition. It was Dyne's job to get Lake as close as possible to the pirate ship without getting detected. So far, they hid behind a large island, laying in wait until the slow, hulking pirate ship would fly by.

"Nothing," Lake snapped and crossed her arms. "Just do your job and I'll do mine."

"Ouch," Dyne muttered and made a fake grab at his heart. "Think you hurt me with that one," he joked.

Lake didn't even crack a smile. Instead, she turned on her heel and leaned against the side of the small ship. Her hair, long and red, were done into twin braids that flew gracefully in the wind. It was almost romantic. Her voice was hollow, causing Dyne to shiver slightly, as she remarked, "What do you think dreams are?"

"Dreams?" Dyne asked a bit startled. This was certainly not the time to discuss such arbitrary terms. But, seeing as how Lake looked a bit nauseous, he decided to humor her. "I always thought dreams were nothing more than our thoughts sorting themselves out in an interesting manner. Like the dream of when I was naked and had to run around the island with Raven prodding me with a--"

Lake blanched and Dyne stopped talking. "You dream of _my _husband? I'm jealous! You _do_ know that he _is_ mine!"

Dyne sighed. "Yes. I'm aware of the fact." Dyne glanced at the location Raven said he would be at. "And your husband seems to be late with his diversion."

Lake grinned. "Seriously, Dyne, sometimes you're way too uptight. I hope your son doesn't have to deal with this anal quality of yours." Lake shook her head and returned to her initial topic. "I always thought that dreams were passages to the mind--I mean, what you really think and feel without all the BS of the day covering it up…I dreamed of Aika, Dyne…and I was dead."

Dyne nearly guffawed at this. Lake dead? Was she serious? He was about to say something but stopped when he saw her face. "Remember the promise we made?" she asked suddenly. Dyne could only nod dumbly. "I want you to honor it. If anything happens to me, or Raven, I want you to watch over my child."

"Lake…"

===

"Seeing how important it was to her, I told her that she didn't have to ask. Minutes later, we heard and explosion and we knew that Raven had set his trap. We flew quickly to the tale end of the Black Pirate Ship and Lake jumped off the ship and landed catlike onto the deck. She slipped behind everyone and went to work." Dyne rubbed his jaw with his hand. He felt suddenly old at retelling this tale. "I had to go back to the island and get on board the Albatross and command that crew, so I left Lake to herself. 

"The plan was simple. After she was done sending the Black Pirates into a tale spin, Raven would come and she would board his ship. They would then go back to Pirate Isle as we fought the Black Pirates."

Vyse, in the meantime, had found a seat and sat listening with his head down. "Let me guess, it didn't go as planned."

"Does anything ever go as planned?" Dyne questioned.

"No. No, it doesn't."

---

"So, what happened," Aika asked Rain. "What didn't go to plan? Why are my parents dead?"

Rain squeezed Aika's shoulder, bringing comfort into the younger girl's body. Aika glanced down at her hands, but by the way her eyes grew misty, Rain knew that she wasn't really staring at them.

"The Black Pirate ship was sent into a tale spin and Dyne and his crew went after her with all the fire power that they had. Lake was safely aboard with Raven and they were sailing toward Pirate Isle as quickly as possible when the unexpected happened."

===

Rain managed to tear her way out of the underground after hearing an explosion. She grinned gleefully as she saw pieces of the Black Pirate ship fall away into the clouds below. This indeed was a joyful occasion.

Soon, children and other women and men emerged from the underground after hearing the sound. Aika and Vyse were in the lead, running as fast as they could to the center of the island so they could see their parents in action.

The Albatross was already underway, cannons and torpedoes at the ready. It dove toward the pirates with such agility that Rain knew nothing could happen to it. Swooping down, they fired quickly and effortlessly. They passed the pirate ship, which was at a standstill, turned and readied another round. Even though the pirate boat tried to put up feeble shields, it was nothing compared to the power of the Albatross and her crew.

"There's Mom and Dad!" Aika cried out as she pointed at a figure jumping off the side and landing in a small vessel that Raven piloted. It sailed away quickly, coming toward the island as fast as it could. 

Aika jumped up and down, tugging on Vyse's sleeve and pointing. "Look! Look!"

"Yeah, yeah, I see it, alright?" Vyse muttered back.

Then the unbelievable happened.

From what Rain could see, the hull of the pirate boat was falling back, revealing a powerful weapon that she had never seen before. It looked almost like a the point of a screw--the technology had to have come from the Armada. It began to glow a brilliant white color, energy being powered up in there, then, with a snap, it released and blasted away at the Albatross. The Albatross was squarely hit and it faltered in it's movements. 

Rain stopped breathing as realization hit her. The Albatross was going down.

Rain could almost hear Dyne working a plan through his mind, trying to get his crew to calm down, and to find a way to get through a crash landing with minimal injuries. She could almost picture him, running throughout his ship, calling out orders to raise the sails on one side or lower some on another to get the ship far away from Pirate Isle so it wouldn't crash land on it and destroy over half of the houses and people that stood outside and watched.

The Black Pirate boat had another idea. It seemed…it seemed to be heading straight for them. Rain realized too late. Her eyes had been on the Albatross the whole time. It was only when she heard the whistle of the falling craft and the sound of Vyse's curious voice saying, "It's coming too close, isn't it?" that Rain noticed it.

"Everyone!" she screamed as loud as she could, "get to the underground quickly! Everyone get back!"

People began to run toward the underground entrance as fast as they could. Children, women and men of all ages tried to help the elderly or the way too young. Together, they were heading into the underground as quickly as possible.

But, not fast enough.

The whistling was getting louder and the cries of the people were getting more and more frenzied. Rain bit her lip and turned to look at the vessel that was hurtling it's way toward them, but caught sight of a young red head, standing in the center of the town with her best friend at her side. Both of the children were staring up into the sky, frozen in place.

Rain began to make her way toward them, but the rush of people were holding her back. "Vyse! Aika!" she screamed out, pushing and shoving her way toward them.

"Mom?"

Aika's small voice in the chaos made Rain freeze. She looked up into the sky, seeing papers fly down and scatter towards the island followed by a hard bound journal. It thumped against the ground, near the edge of the small island with a small poof of dirt flying about it. The journal had fallen from the small vessel that Raven piloted.

"No…" Rain murmured as she watched the small ship collide into the side of the pirate ship. It had just enough force to change the trajectory of the Black Pirate boat and the falling chaos managed to miss the island by just a hair.

===

Dyne became quiet and listened to the soft buzz of nothingness in his ear. It had been so long ago when the incident occurred, but it still had enough power to make him tear up. He could feel the burn of tears just behind his eyes and he looked down quickly, covering his face with a well placed hand on his forehead.

Dyne took a moment to collect himself before he continued.

"By the time the Albatross arrived, Rain told me everything. We…we couldn't believe it, they had kept a promise to us…to protect one another…they died because of us."

"No, they didn't," Vyse replied with such conviction that it took Dyne by surprise. "They died because they wanted to save the people, to save the children, and most importantly, because they loved you."

Dyne couldn't help smiling. Sometimes it took the voice of the innocent to bring clarity into the chaotic mind. "Yes…you're…right…" Dyne took a deep, calming breath before he continued. "Well, when I got back, it was late at night. The glow of the moon was shining on our Island and I was down in our underground hideout briefing everyone on our loss. It was then that I noticed that you nor Aika were present.

"I went upstairs with your mother and we looked for the both of you. We knew we had to tell Aika what happened, even if we didn't want to…anyway, we found the both of you sitting in the same place you were when the crash occurred.

===

Aika stared into the night sky, her eyes never wavering from the point in which she stared. She sat on the floor, shivering from the small breeze that blew through the island. With her small pigtails dancing in the wind. Her arms were tight around her knees and she was shivering slightly. She sang an eerie song, full of sadness that called out to Dyne and Rain's hearts. 

She already knew.

She was leaning on someone's back, a small boy with brown hair, and her best friend in the whole entire world. It appeared that he had never left her side. Vyse was behind her, quiet for once, listening to the broken tune with his eyes closed and his arms resting on his knees. His hands tapped out the beat of the slow song and his head nodded back and forth.

Suddenly, Aika stopped. "Vyse, are you asleep?"

There was a slight pause before he said, "No."

Aika bit the bottom of her lip and her voice shook as she muttered, "You can go, if you want."

"No. I promised I'd always take you on adventures with me, even if it's a sad adventure. In this case, you're going through one and I'm going to stay by your side until it's dimmed," Vyse whispered. Dyne noted that he had said 'dim' and not 'over.' Vyse realized that Vyse knew how powerful and how sad his best friend felt at the moment and how this event would always plague her. "I'm going to keep that promise, you dolt."

"It's cold out here, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

"You're a pile of looper dung, you know that?"

Vyse gave a lazy grin. "Yeah, I know."

===

Aika listened quietly to the story, letting it all sink in. What she had wanted to know, at first, was how her parents died. She had found out and still felt unease. Then, she wanted to know how to end a curse so she could stay with Vyse. Here, with Rain, she found out the curse was BS…but that's only what Rain said. How could Rain really _know_ that the curse was BS. For all, Aika thought, all that happened was because of the curse.

Aika said what she had been thinking and Rain shook her head. She handed the papers, which had been stuffed in the picture frame, to Aika. "When the journal came, I decided to stick it in the mail, and send it to you like your mom requested with these notes. It came from the journal, loose sheets with Lake's last words. Do you want to read it?"

Aika stared at the paper uneasily. "Um…okay."

__

Dear Rain and Dyne,

We don't know what to say, loves, but Raven and I decided that we needed to do this. 

When I was on the ship, I saw Lorenzo. He was completely consumed with revenge no matter what anyone could do. He didn't care for his crew, nor himself. He had been planning to crush not just Dyne and Raven, but the island and all who lived in it. I saw his plans, and I knew we had to stop him.

We now know that that stupid curse is idiotic. It's not some prophecy that can decide our fate, but our own choices. We know that we don't have to do this, but we are. We have to do right to the both of you for all that you've done for us, and for all those who put up with us on Pirate Isle. 

We had to save all of you for the sake of love, the future, and our children, and we absolutely know that Aika is left with the best of hands possible. Please take care of her.

Raven says: But if that Vyse of yours hurts my little girl in any way, give him a slap in the head for me, will you? Promise!

Well, we have no more time. I'm sorry that things had to end this way. But, don't feel bad, or sad, or whatever. Just remember the good times in this diary.

Rain, I know this is a bit selfish of me, but can you give this to Aika one day so she could know how her parents were? So she could know us, and whenever she feels lonely, can always turn to this journal and be with us again, in some weird way?

Also, can you tell her that we love her and are proud of her no matter what she chooses in life. Tell her to keep fighting for all that she believes in and to wash behind her ears…she always had a problem with that.

Always and forever,

Lake and Raven

---

Dyne pushed himself off the table and walked around his son. He patted him on the shoulders and said, "I'm sure you know what you need to do." He then let go and gave Vyse a huge slap upside the head.

When Vyse turned around and glared up at his father, Dyne just shrugged and said, "Hey, I was just keeping a promise, wasn't I?"

Epilogue:

Vyse climbed up the huge ladder, all the way to the look out area. He glanced around and saw Aika sitting on the large wooden log at the end of the island. Her back was to him and she was hugging her knees. For once, her hair was undone, flew freely in the wind and caressed her face.

Vyse walked up to the wooden log and fell into it. He leaned against her back and looked up into the sky. One leg, he brought onto the bench, bent his knee, and rested his wrist on the bent knee. The other leg, he left on the ground and put his other hand on the bench. "What are you doing here?"

Aika shook her head. "Just thinking."

They sat in silence for a while longer as Vyse shut his eyes. Finally, he said, "I've been acting stupid, haven't I?"

"It's okay. I'm use to it since you do it all the time." Vyse could hear the laughter in her voice and he physically relaxed. "You do know," Aika continued, "you couldn't force me off of your crew even if you tried."

Vyse grinned. "I know. You're the most stubborn woman I've ever met."

"Ah, but you're the one who made a promise to always be by the side of the most stubborn girl you've ever met. You're stuck with me!" Aika paused. "Do you think that the battle between us and that robot thing…I mean…my parents…the prophecy…" Aika didn't know what she wanted to say and fell back into silence.

Vyse didn't move as he whispered. "It's not a prophecy that can dictate our lives but our choices," Vyse quoted the words his father had told him. 

Aika turned her head slightly, seeing Vyse's profile in the dim moonlight. She steadied his face for a few seconds before she whispered, "So, what do we choose to do now?"

Vyse shrugged. "Continue our adventures together…"

"Like the one he just had with all the arguments and weirdness?" Aika sighed and leaned her head back on Vyse's shoulder, feeling him stiffen for a second then relax. "A lot happened this time, didn't it. Do you think anything more will happen between us?"

Vyse sat up and twisted his whole body to stare at Aika fully. Feeling the pressure gone from her back, Aika turned around and looked up into Vyse's eyes. 

He hesitated, watching her beautiful face in the dark light. Her hair danced playfully in the wind and for a moment, he wanted to wrap one of the loose strands around his fingers, to thread his hands through her hair and pull her close…_What the hell,_ he thought.

After all the frightened moments on the ship since he found out about the prophecy, after finding out that his closeness might hurt her, and all the pent up tension and the chances to be with Aika that he threw away to try and save her in his own way, he threw caution to the winds and threaded his fingers through her hair. Aika looked surprised as he whispered, "I hope so," and pulled her closer for a soft kiss.

=END=

THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING OR JUST READING AT ALL! YOU GUYS ARE THE GREATEST! ALSO, THANKS FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME AND MY DAMNED ODD SCHEDULE OF UPDATING! I'M JUST SO HAPPY NOW THAT I'M DONE! YEAHHHHHHHHHH! I ALSO HOPE THAT I TIED UP LOOSE ENDS! 


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